After seeing Ji Yuan off, Zhao Hanzhang called over Ting He and asked, "What good things are left in the warehouse? Pick some to send to the Xiliang Army. Even if we don’t go personally, the gifts must be delivered."
Ting He replied, "Besides various types of timber and unusable items, there are only four bolts of cloth remaining."
"Those are specially left for the lady and Second Son for making clothes after the mourning period," Ting He emphasized, "They were sent by Madame, including some for the eldest son."
"Didn’t mother already make clothes and send them? That’s enough. Send my two bolts of cloth to the Xiliang Army for General Beigong’s mother and wife."
"But the clothes Madame sent are a bit short..."
In the past six months, Zhao Hanzhang has grown quickly, exceeding Mrs. Wang’s expectations. Mrs. Wang was likely worried that the clothes she made wouldn’t fit, so besides clothes, she also sent cloth, thinking that if they didn’t fit, Ting He could tailor them.
Zhao Hanzhang said, "Didn’t you say there was a piece left? Just let out that piece, then it will fit. This year, let’s not make new clothes here."
As they were speaking, there was the sound of footsteps running outside. Zhao Hanzhang looked at Ting He, "Why has Second Son returned?"
Zhao Erlang ran back excitedly, "Sister, I heard brother-in-law has returned."
"He just returned a moment ago, and you’ve arrived right after. How are you so well-informed?"
"Oh, is brother-in-law that slow? I heard at noon that he returned home. How could he just be arriving now?"
Ting He replied, "Lady, it’s 5 p.m. now."
Zhao Hanzhang glanced at the water clock and finally realized it was evening. But outside, the sun was still shining brightly.
"Time flies..." Zhao Hanzhang urged Ting He, "Quickly send the cloth to the Xiliang Army."
Ting He complied, bowed, and then retreated.
Zhao Hanzhang asked Zhao Erlang, "What about you? You’re stationed at Xin’an. Although Xin’an is close to Luoyang, you can’t just run back every few days."
"I only come back when brother-in-law returns."
Zhao Hanzhang had a black line, "Why?"
"Because when brother-in-law returns, there are good things to eat. Sister, is there meat to eat tonight?"
Zhao Hanzhang was taken aback, then realized it, and quickly called out to Ting He, who had just retreated to the door, pondering for a while, "Aren’t there still two sheep at home? Send those two sheep as well."
Ting He whispered, "Lady, those two sheep were bought for entertaining guests during the Dragon Boat Festival. You forgot, you want to invite generals and officials for a meal during the Dragon Boat Festival."
Zhao Hanzhang said, "We can just buy more."
Ting He: "Money..."
Zhao Hanzhang asked, "Are we short on money?"
Ting He: "It’s just the beginning of the month, not exactly short, but buying these two sheep would almost use up the household’s monthly allowance."
Zhao Hanzhang gritted her teeth and waved her hand, "Send them over. We can’t have a family reunion without even a meat dish on the table."
She looked up at Zhao Erlang, "If there’s nothing going on this month, just eat at the army."
Zhao Erlang was heartbroken and decided to fight for himself, "What about when brother-in-law returns..."
"There’s no food for you either."
Zhao Erlang lowered his head, "Alright."
Ting He hurried to send the items. Zhao Hanzhang holds Beigong Chun in high regard, and the cloth is precious, so she decided to deliver it personally.
When the kitchen heard Fu Tinghan had returned, they autonomously killed a chicken. When they heard Second Son had returned, they stood at the back courtyard fence, contemplating the remaining five chickens.
Ultimately, they couldn’t bear to kill a chicken and instead took out ten eggs to add to the dishes.
In the evening, most of the meat ended up in Zhao Erlang’s stomach.
Fu Tinghan gave Zhao Hanzhang a chicken leg and another to Zhao Erlang, "Strengthening the body requires eating meat. Eat up."
Zhao Hanzhang gave him the chicken wings, even giving him two in a row, "You need to eat meat since you use your brain even more."
She said, "Later, I’ll catch fish in the river for you to eat. Fish meat is good for the brain."
Zhao Erlang also liked fish, "I want some too."
Zhao Hanzhang: "Catch it yourself."
Zhao Erlang buried his head and ate heartily while Zhao Hanzhang watched him sigh, "Erlang, come back for meals next month, understand?"
Zhao Erlang reluctantly said, "There’s barely any meat to eat in the army. The soldiers have no fat in their stomachs, making it hard to muster energy."
Zhao Hanzhang snorted, "Aren’t there still tofu and soybean oil? People here don’t have meat either."
"There’s little tofu, let alone soybean oil. For such a large pot of food, the cook only uses a tiny bit of oil, saying the military provisions of soybean oil are very little."
Zhao Hanzhang said, "It’s not to blame the military provisions. There are so many people, and horses all need beans to eat. The market price for soybean oil is also very high now."
Since they made soybean oil, it went through a brief period of low demand before quickly being recognized, becoming a relatively luxurious condiment.
Soybean oil is difficult to crush and press, and some oil mills have poor yield rates. As people ate the oil, they noticed their hair grew thicker and smoother, even their skin became a bit glowier, and they felt stronger overall. They even felt fuller faster.
So nobles began consuming large quantities of oil, and ordinary people followed suit. Oil prices rose, along with soybean prices.
The soldiers grew crops, with soybeans being the most, but even then, it was not enough to sustain the army. Besides crushing oil, soybeans were also made into soy flour, turned into soy cakes as dry rations for soldiers.
Previously, the dry rations Zhao Hanzhang chewed on the battlefield were made of sixty percent soy flour, thirty percent wheat flour, and ten percent wheat bran.
Hard enough that you’d have to straighten your neck to swallow it.
Besides people, their warhorses also need soybeans. Otherwise, how would they have the strength for battle?
The leftover bean dregs from crushing oil are used to feed horses and pigs.
Thinking of pigs, Zhao Hanzhang’s mouth watered quickly, "The pigs they raise have too low a meat yield. They’re all castrated, yet they still take seven to eight months to reach market weight?"
"It’s probably the piglets aren’t good. Needs adjustment."
Having eaten castrated pork in Xiping, Zhao Erlang swallowed the words he had and curiously asked, "How to adjust?"
He is interested in all activities involving meat.
Zhao Hanzhang said, "This, that, and the other, mixing various breeds of pigs, and raising them to see which breed loves to gain meat the most."
"But this won’t be adjusted within three to five years, forget it, I’ll delegate it to the subordinates. I’ll still go fish for you."
Fu Tinghan smiled and said, "If the water mill can be built, I’ll add an oil mill using hydraulic power. With soybeans harvested, we can test its efficiency."
Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes sparkled, "Great, besides oil pressing, I think tofu can be made in it too. Now the army lacks meat, and protein supplementation mainly relies on soybeans, it’s hard work making tofu."
Fu Tinghan agreed without issue.
Zhao Erlang couldn’t find a chance to speak and brought the topic back, "Sister, the pigs we raise in the army are only that big. Don’t know when we can eat them. How big are the ones in your army?"
"Alas~" Zhao Hanzhang sighed answering Zhao Erlang.
Fu Tinghan found it amusing and said, "The pigs raised at the workshop are over ninety pounds now; in two more months, they should be ready to slaughter."
Zhao Hanzhang: "Too skinny, better to raise them a bit longer."

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